Alice snaps
by Rose Jennison
Summary: A spin-off/alternate ending of the HnKnA manga. When Blood interrupts Vivaldi and Alice at the ball, she can't take his treatment of her anymore and snaps at him for all of Wonderland to see. Before either of them has the chance to apologize, Alice snaps in an entirely different way, thanks to the White Rabbit and her own stubbornness.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Not gonna lie, this entire fic was born out of my desire to see Blood get well and truly called out for how he treats Alice in the original HnKnA manga storyline.

I don't hate Blood as a character. He can be very amusing, especially his relationship with Elliot, the Twins, and Vivaldi; and I've heard he is much more pleasant in the original game. However, I've never been able to excuse his actions in the first story I encountered him in.

So without further ado, have a chapter of a hurt and angry Alice dressing down Blood at the castle ball.

* * *

It was hard to say where it had started. Maybe it was the first time Blood accused Alice of 'pleasuring' all the male role holders, or when he'd tried to strangle her with his bare hands. Perhaps it had even started all the way back when she had first compared him to her lost love. No matter the starting point, it all came to a head when he interrupted her chat with Vivaldi at the ball.

Alice truly admired the Queen of Hearts, on several levels. Vivaldi had a beauty and confidence that she would never posses, and Alice could admire that even if the Queen regularly beheaded people. Alice thought this as she listened to her now, even though he didn't _completely_ agree with **everything** the Queen was saying.

Blood just had to interrupt things.

"You assume she cares about something other than the love of men."

And with a comment like that! Alice felt anger and hurt boiling up inside her, but she forced it down. Despite Blood's cool attitude, things were becoming heated between him and Vivaldi. If they didn't stop soon a fight could break out, and a lot of people could be hurt.

She wanted to say something herself, but with the way Blood had been acting around her recently anything she said would probably just rile him up more. Seeing Elliot standing to the side, she went to him.

"Elliot, could you try mediating? They really need to calm down." Alice pleaded. Elliot blushed and fidgeted.

"I...uh..."

"See? I told you." Blood's voice intruded once again. The pair turned to look at him. "That little lady doesn't know to survive without them around her."

 _'What?'_ Alice thought, her voice lost to her confusion.

"The same thing happened when I first met her. She avoided me by hiding behind her army of love-struck puppets."

The raging hurt that Alice had stamped down earlier came flooding back to her. Where the hell did he get off? She could barely get her own life together, much less figure out how to influence the lives of others! And it wasn't her fault! She never asked for anyone to fall in love with her, no matter what Nightmare said. She never wanted to be hurt by love again, and here he was smearing that hurt all over her and anyone she talked to! How dare he! She'd made good friends here, with Boris, Gowland, and Julius, even with scary people like Ace and the rest of the Mafia. Despite their differences they were some of the best friends she'd had in years. Then Blood strolls in and acts like she's committed some horrible crime just by talking to them!

"Alice? Are you okay?" Elliot's voice is worried, and strangely distant. She ignores it as she steps forward. The words 'tease' and 'manipulate' are the last straw.

Alice never thought about how much the the ballroom could echo until the sound of her slap reverberated throughout the room.

Not everyone stopped and turned to look of course; the room was far too crowded with the sounds of other people. But it certainly caught the attention of all the faceless in their corner of the room, as well as the several of the role holders. Alice wasn't aware of that though, or the way Elliot stared in shock and Vivaldi looked on in surprised approval, she only had eyes for Blood Dupre.

The Mafia boss looked completely scandalized at first, and Alice reveled in it before his features morphed into outrage.

"You...you slapped me! How dare you-"

"Don't." Alice growled lowly. "Don't you even _think_ of acting like the offended party."

As her tone and words sunk in, some of his outrage was replaced with uncertainty. He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't give him the chance.

"You harass me, act like I'm evil for having a past, tell me I'm a slut for having friends, try to strangle me for breaking a rule I didn't know existed, and you want **ME** to feel wrong?! Do you have any idea how messed up that is?! Oh sure, you can go off and have tea party in honor of how much I hurt your feelings, but you certainly have a **field day** messing around with mine!"

Alice wasn't sure at what point the tears started rolling down her face, but she could no longer keep the sobs out of her voice.

"You stupid- I can't- If for one second you would stop trying to...to seduce or bully me into something! I can't even figure out how I **actually** **feel** about you! Because- Because every time I try you ruin things by doing something _stupid_ , and _pervy_ , and _hurtful_ and you don't care what I-"

She cut off and bowed her head to suppress the anguished cry that wanted to escape her throat. She stood there trembling for several long moments, until she felt gloved fingertips tentatively brush her hair.

"Alice...I-"

She smacked Blood's hand away without looking up. She wished her next words were strong and confident, like they would be coming from Vivaldi, but instead they came out choked and weak.

"Damn you, Blood!"

The young outsider suddenly realized how quiet it had gotten; the music had died and there was no movement of feet or murmur of voices. She lifted her head to discover that nearly the entire room has stopped to stare at them, at her.

Alice's face burned hotter than she could ever remember. One more sob broke through and she was suddenly running for the castle garden. She croaked out apologies as she bumped into people, but it wasn't long before they parted and gave her a clear path to the door.

* * *

Blood watched as Alice bolted from the room, stunned into complete silence.

Once Alice burst out of the room, Vivaldi made a quick gesture to the band and the music restarts. Things slowly began to pick back up, but he could feel the other role holders glare at him. Even the faceless retained some of the tension as they got back to dancing.

"I suppose you're amused by all this." Blood muttered to Vivaldi, who still remained by his side. The Queen of Hearts snorted.

"Were the words said by any other individual, we might be. We will keep out peace for now, since the ball is not over and the young lady is still upset. However, as soon as things have calmed we expect to hear of your efforts to make amends. Even if you do not succeed your efforts will still amuse us."

She suddenly leaned in close to his ear and whispered. "And we expect to hear the full details of the 'strangling' incident when next we visit the garden."

With that she strolled away to greet her other guests, which left the Hatter alone with a very concerned and equally stunned March Hare.

"Elliot."

"Y-Yeah boss?"

"Go find a maid who will show me to a room. I get the feeling I am no longer welcome in the ballroom."

"Uh, right. On it, boss."

Blood was silent as he followed the maid to the guestrooms. Just what was he going to do about this?

* * *

 **AN:**

The rant Alice gives Blood is based very heavily off of a rant found in pika-la-cynique's fancomic 'Girls Next Door'. The specific comic containing the rant can be found here:

art/GND130-Outburst-198542810

A dramatic reading of the entire sequence leading up to and including the rant can be found on youtube:

watch?v=jZIJTrC1Krg

You can listen to that to get a better idea of how Alice sounds during this.

Please review and let me know what you think. I am planning on giving Blood and Alice a chance to make up. Though, considering it took Alice leaving to get him to truly own up to his feelings in the manga, I'm thinking something drastic will have to occur if he's going to do that before she leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice stared up into the starry night sky. It was truly a beautiful sight, the pinpricks of light scattered across a mottled background of deep blue and dusty swirls. Did night skies back home look like this? She couldn't really remember anymore, and that scared her more than she would ever admit.

Alice didn't mind such thoughts right now though. They were better than the raging hurt and embarrassment she'd been feeling when ran from the ballroom. Anxiety and worry aren't the best distraction to use, and she knew it. Any distraction was welcome at this point though.

"Alice!"

 _'I stand corrected.'_ Alice thought to herself when Peter's voice rang through the castle garden.

She braced herself for impact, but instead of pouncing on her like usual, Peter stopped a short distance away. Alice eyed him warily from the corner of her eye, and he stared back with an unreadable expression.

"What do you want Peter? I'm not really in the mood for company right now."

She turned to face him completely, and the still drying tear tracks on her face caught the moonlight's reflection. Peter's expression softened at the sight of it.

"Alice, I wanted you to come to this world. I thought that I would be satisfied as long as you stayed here, whether or not you were by my side. I was so sure of that...but now I'm feeling conflicted. I know this isn't the best time, but I really need you to help me."

"Help? How?" Alice asked, curiosity and confusion getting the better of her. Peter's eyes shined, desperate and earnest.

"Alice...I love you. And because I love you, I want you to be happy. Your happiness is all I need, and with that wish alone I brought you to this place."

Despite her annoyance at anything even remotely related to Peter, Alice couldn't help but be touched by the sincerity of that simple wish. It had even come true; in a strange way a lot of the people she met here mad her really happy. Considering how hard she'd fought against coming and staying here, it was rather ironic.

"And yet, I can't bear to watch you fall for someone else." Peter said, head dipping in shame while frustration rose in his voice. "If I really care for you I should be able to watch you be happy with whomever you choose. But I can't! I can't even let you choose whom to go to for comfort, I can't take the pain of not doing anything for you! I've never had to deal with these emotions. What should I do?!"

His head suddenly snapped up, his gaze meeting hers.

"Why must this be? Why can't you choose me? I want your love more than your happiness, and if you would just choose me everything would go perfectly. I would never hurt you...I would never-"

"Choose you?" Alice interrupted, uncomfortable now that Peter was back to his usual shtick. Still, she felt sympathetic after his confession, and tried to be gentle. "Peter, I don't plan to fall in love in this world."

Peter looked surprised, but also strangely hopeful.

"If your not in love with anyone here, then there's no reason to let a crass man like Dupre chase you out of castle. Won't you come back to the ball with me?" Alice smiled sadly.

"Being in love wasn't the problem; it was embarrassing to act that way in front of all those people. Even if everyone acts like nothing happened, I won't be able to stop thinking about Blood."

"That's it!" Peter shouted, startling Alice. He gently touched her cheek. "If you remember you'll stop thinking about that man altogether."

"Remember?" Alice asked.

"Yes, remember you and me." He suddenly pulled her close, making her head rest on his shoulder. "Please remember, I am you precious-" Peter's voice cut off as a hazy image flashed through Alice's mind, her and Lorina sitting in the garden back home. The memory was so familiar and nostalgic, yet different...somehow.

 _'Did I meet Peter before? Before coming to this world? When?'_ The memory went deeper. Lorina read a fairy tale to her, the remains of their picnic forgotten as an enraptured Alice listened. _'The Sunday afternoons I love so much...Peter was-'_ A sharp pain suddenly shot through her head, and the memory began to fade.

 _'NO!'_ Alice's mind surged against the foreign darkness, scrambling to get a hold of the memory. She was sick of feeling like she was always missing something, and she was so close to figuring it out. The darkness became stronger, trying to force her out, but Alice had found her grip and she refused to let go.

Distantly, she could hear Peter's voice calling out to her. He told her to stop, that it was alright not to remember. But it wasn't, it really wasn't. The Country of Hearts had turned out more wondrous than expected, but her past was important too. She refused to lose anymore of it. Another, vaguely familiar voice entered her mind, telling her she had to remain in the dark. She almost lost her grip because of it, but she didn't let the memory get away. She mentally dug in her heels and reasserted herself. She clawed through the darkness that tried to push her back, despite the voice's continued warning.

Until, finally, she was through.

The first thing she realized, was that the memory was older than she originally recalled. It had been a long time since she had seen her sister, much longer than she'd thought it had been, but why-

Memories that had been locked away came flooding back to her. She hadn't seen Lorina in a long time because she was...her sister was...

In that moment, Alice became aware of everything she had forgotten.

And something within her _snapped_.

For a brief moment, she once again became aware of her physical self. The cool night air against, her skin, a pair of gloved hands holding her kneeling form, and Peter desperately crying her name. The next moment a darkness all her own crept over her, and it all faded away.


End file.
